New breast cancer research released on the eve of the Sept. 7
Breast Cancer Symposium in California found that black women are more
likely than white woman to have a form of aggressive, difficult-to-treat
breast cancer and are more likely than white women to die from breast
cancer.

The overall incidence of breast cancer is lower among black women
than white women, but survival rates for those diagnosed with the
disease are significantly lower for black women. A study based on more
than 170,000 cases of breast cancer included in the National Cancer Data
Base found that white women made up 90.3 percent of cases, compared to
9.7 percent of black women. But for women with invasive cancers,
estrogen receptor-negative tumors were significantly more frequent in
black women at every stage of disease and in all age groups. Thirty-nine
percent of black women had estrogen receptor-negative tumors--associated
with less favorable outcomes than estrogen receptor-positive
tumors--compared to 22 percent of white women.

Black women were diagnosed at an average age of 57, compared to 62
for white women, and were diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer
than white women.

"The fact that breast cancers in black women are more
aggressive biologically suggests that we need to focus more of our
research energy on developing better treatments," said M. Catherine
Lee, MD, the study's lead author. "These findings also point
to a need for improved cancer education and screening in black women,
particularly those in younger age groups."

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